drugsNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Stories and features from the KUOW newsroom.NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94drugsTue, 25 Oct 2016 01:15:24 +0000drugshttp://kuow.org
Paige BrowningPolicing and homeless services are high profile items in Seattle's proposed budget. A program that helps drug users touches on both. Now, the fate of the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program is stirring up debate. Through LEAD, police connect low level drug and prostitution suspects to community services, instead of arresting them. Jail-diversion program on the line in Seattle budget negotiationshttp://kuow.org/post/jail-diversion-program-line-seattle-budget-negotiations
91087 as http://kuow.orgMon, 24 Oct 2016 16:33:51 +0000Jail-diversion program on the line in Seattle budget negotiationsBrian FreelandWhen she was 10 years old, Alyssa Gaudinier found the spot where her parents hid the alcohol. The moment it touched her lips, she was addicted to that escape. The scariest thing about heroin? 'You're gonna love it'http://kuow.org/post/scariest-thing-about-heroin-youre-gonna-love-it
87355 as http://kuow.orgWed, 19 Oct 2016 23:16:51 +0000The scariest thing about heroin? 'You're gonna love it'Lauren SilvermanIt's been a wild ride for kratom lately.Since Aug. 31, when the Drug Enforcement Administration announced its intention to classify the plant as a Schedule I substance, a group of kratom vendors filed a lawsuit against the government to block the move, angry advocates took to social media in protest and scientists questioned whether they would be able to continue kratom research.Now, the DEA is withdrawing its notice of intent to put kratom in the most restrictive category of controlled substances, with drugs like LSD and heroin. The DEA says it will instead open an official public comment period — to last until Dec. 1, 2016 — for people to share their experiences using kratom as a medical treatment. It has also requested that the Food and Drug Administration expedite scientific research.DEA spokesman Russ Baer says the DEA received more than 2,000 phone calls since August, mostly in opposition to the plan to classify kratom as Schedule I."So in a spirit of transparency, and to openKratom Gets Reprieve From Drug Enforcement Administrationhttp://kuow.org/post/kratom-gets-reprieve-drug-enforcement-administration
90252 as http://kuow.orgWed, 12 Oct 2016 20:36:00 +0000Kratom Gets Reprieve From Drug Enforcement AdministrationeditorAmerica has a long and storied history with marijuana. Once grown by American colonists to make hemp rope, by 1970, it was classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic. Possession of it was — and is — a federal crime, despite the fact that in recent years 25 states have legalized medical marijuana and four states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for recreational use.Author John Hudak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, traces the history of America's laws and attitudes toward cannabis in his new book, Marijuana: A Short History. He tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies that the recent shift in public policy is, in part, a recognition of the drug's medicinal value, which became apparent in San Francisco during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s."People were saying, 'If I smoke this and I get the munchies, maybe it will help people dying of AIDS who are so nauseated that they can't eat and they're dealing with clinical anorexia as a result of that,' " Hudak explains.The grassHow The 'Cannabis Catch-22' Keeps Marijuana Classified As A Harmful Drughttp://kuow.org/post/how-cannabis-catch-22-keeps-marijuana-classified-harmful-drug
90242 as http://kuow.orgWed, 12 Oct 2016 19:30:00 +0000How The 'Cannabis Catch-22' Keeps Marijuana Classified As A Harmful DrugEmma YasinskiTwo often-overlooked medications might help millions of Americans who abuse alcohol to quit drinking or cut back.Public health officials, building on a push to treat people who abuse opioids with medications, want physicians to consider using medications to treat alcohol addiction. The drugs can be used in addition to or sometimes in place of peer-support programs, they say."We want people to understand we think AA is wonderful, but there are other options," says George Koob, director of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a part of the federal National Institutes of Health.It is still rare for a person struggling with alcohol to hear that medication therapy exists. This partly reflects the tradition of treating addiction through 12-step programs. It's also a byproduct of limited promotion by the drugs' manufacturers and confusion among doctors about how to use them.A key study funded by the federal government reported last year that only 20 percent people who abuseMedications Can Help People Stop Abusing Alcohol, But Many Don't Know Thathttp://kuow.org/post/medications-can-help-people-stop-abusing-alcohol-many-dont-know
89102 as http://kuow.orgMon, 26 Sep 2016 20:23:00 +0000Medications Can Help People Stop Abusing Alcohol, But Many Don't Know ThatNancy ShuteMany people struggling with opioid addiction can't find a doctor to provide medication-assisted treatment, even though it's highly effective. One reason could be that doctors who are qualified to prescribe the medication typically treat just a handful of patients.Researchers at the RAND Corporation looked at pharmacy records from the seven states with the most doctors approved to prescribe buprenorphine, which helps people manage cravings and avoid withdrawal. They found 3,234 doctors who had prescribed the drug, also known as Suboxone, to new patients from 2010 to 2013. The median number of patients by a doctor treated each month was 13. About half of the doctors treated 4 to 30 patients; 22 percent treated less than 4; 20 percent treated 31 to 75."We were really surprised," says Dr. Bradley Stein, a psychiatrist and lead author of the study, which was published Tuesday in JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association. "We found that only about 10 percent of doctors were whatDoctors Who Treat Opioid Addiction Often See Very Few Patientshttp://kuow.org/post/doctors-who-treat-opioid-addiction-often-see-very-few-patients
88740 as http://kuow.orgTue, 20 Sep 2016 15:59:00 +0000Doctors Who Treat Opioid Addiction Often See Very Few PatientsKim Malcolm talks with Caleb Banta-Green, an opiate addiction expert and a member of the King County Heroin and Prescription Opiate Taskforce, about Seattle possibly becoming the first U.S. city to create a safe-consumption site for heroin users. What it means for Seattle to get safe injection siteshttp://kuow.org/post/what-it-means-seattle-get-safe-injection-sites
88476 as http://kuow.orgThu, 15 Sep 2016 23:24:42 +0000What it means for Seattle to get safe injection sitesRuby de LunaNow that a task force to address King County’s heroin epidemic has unveiled its recommendations, the hard work begins. Some of the strategies in the report are already in motion, like making naloxone, a drug that prevents overdoses, readily available. Seattle could be first U.S. city with safe injection sitehttp://kuow.org/post/seattle-could-be-first-us-city-safe-injection-site
88436 as http://kuow.orgThu, 15 Sep 2016 17:42:29 +0000Seattle could be first U.S. city with safe injection siteLauren SilvermanKratom is made from the leaves of a small tree native to Southeast Asia that is a relative of the coffee plant. According to David Kroll, a pharmacologist and medical writer, farmers and indigenous people have used it for hundreds of years as both a stimulant to increase work output and also at the end of the day as a way to relax.The leaves are often brewed like a tea, or crushed and mixed with water. In the U.S., kratom has become popular among people coping with chronic pain and others trying to wean themselves off opioids or alcohol.Karisa Rowland is one of them.Since 2014, she has woken up every morning, removed a bag of kratom powder from her fridge, put about a teaspoon in a mug and drunk it.In the past, Rowland, who lives a half-hour south of Fort Worth, Texas, struggled with a serious prescription opioid dependence. After several back surgeries, she was using pills — hydrocodone, fentanyl and oxycodone — to deal with her chronic pain.One night, in jail after being picked upKratom Advocates Speak Out Against Proposed Government Banhttp://kuow.org/post/kratom-advocates-speak-out-against-proposed-government-ban
88176 as http://kuow.orgMon, 12 Sep 2016 20:31:00 +0000Kratom Advocates Speak Out Against Proposed Government BanRuby de LunaA task force to address King County’s heroin epidemic will release recommendations this week that could include a safe consumption site for people who use drugs. The group will make another recommendation: creating a buprenorphine program at the site of Seattle’s Needle Exchange program. King County to roll out new treatment program for heroin addictionhttp://kuow.org/post/king-county-roll-out-new-treatment-program-heroin-addiction
88160 as http://kuow.orgMon, 12 Sep 2016 16:51:14 +0000King County to roll out new treatment program for heroin addictionAlison KodjakTreatment for life-threatening allergic reactions is about to get a little cheaper.Mylan, the maker of the EpiPen, said Monday that it will launch a generic version of the device for half the price of the brand-name product.The company says the generic will hit the market in a few weeks and cost $300 for a two-pack. That's less than half the price of a two-pack of brand-name EpiPens, which are available at pharmacies operated by CVS inside Target stores for about $630, according to GoodRX.The move by Mylan comes in response to mounting pressure from consumers and Congress to lower the drug's price. In less than 10 years, the price for a two-pack of injectors has risen from about $100 to more than $600."This helps Mylan with its public relations battle against criticism for sharp price increases on the EpiPen," says Larry Levitt, a health policy analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation. "The introduction of a lower-priced generic version may keep competitors out of the market."Mylan CEOMaker Of EpiPen To Sell Generic Version For Half The Pricehttp://kuow.org/post/maker-epipen-sell-generic-version-half-price
87212 as http://kuow.orgMon, 29 Aug 2016 15:20:00 +0000Maker Of EpiPen To Sell Generic Version For Half The PriceKatherine HobsonFederal data suggest illegally manufactured fentanyl, a drug that is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, is behind an increase in synthetic opioid deaths.A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that there was a 426 percent increase in seized drug products that tested positive for fentanyl from 2013 to 2014. And separate data show the number of deaths involving synthetic opioids, a class that includes fentanyl and tramadol but not hydrocodone, rose 79 percent during that same period.Among 27 U.S. states analyzed, there was a strong correlation between increases in synthetic opioid deaths and in seized fentanyl products, but not with changes in fentanyl prescribing, according to data published Thursday in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.That suggests, the authors say, that illegally manufactured fentanyl is driving the spike in overdoses. (Deaths attributed specifically to fentanyl aren't reported in national data.)"What concerns us here is theIllegally Made Fentanyl Seems To Be Fueling A Spike In Overdoseshttp://kuow.org/post/illegally-made-fentanyl-seems-be-fueling-spike-overdoses
86981 as http://kuow.orgThu, 25 Aug 2016 17:40:00 +0000Illegally Made Fentanyl Seems To Be Fueling A Spike In OverdosesAlison KodjakEditor's note: Updated at 9:20 am ET to include Mylan's announcement that it will reimburse consumers for some of their out-of-pocket costs.EpiPens are in your friend's purse and your kid's backpack. The school nurse has a few, as does Grandma.The medicine inside — epinephrine — has been around forever, and the handy gadget that injects it into your leg is not particularly new either.So members of Congress, responding to their angry constituents, want to know why the price of the EpiPen, which can reverse a life-threatening allergic reaction, has risen about fivefold in the past decade.The wholesale price of a single pen was about $47 in 2007, and it rose to $284 this summer, according to Richard Evans, a health care analyst at SSR. But consumers can no longer buy a single pen, so the retail price to fill a prescription today at Walgreens is about $633, according to GoodRX.It's the latest in a string of controversies over rising drug prices that have caught the attention of lawmakersEpiPen Manufacturer Says It Will Help With Out-Of-Pocket Costshttp://kuow.org/post/latest-target-drug-price-wars-ubiquitous-epipen
86913 as http://kuow.orgWed, 24 Aug 2016 20:59:00 +0000EpiPen Manufacturer Says It Will Help With Out-Of-Pocket CostsAngus ChenOnce people realized that opioid drugs could cause addiction and deadly overdoses, they tried to use newer forms of opioids to treat the addiction to its parent. Morphine, about 10 times the strength of opium, was used to curb opium cravings in the early 19th century. Codeine, too, was touted as a nonaddictive drug for pain relief, as was heroin.Those attempts were doomed to failure because all opioid drugs interact with the brain in the same way. They dock to a specific neural receptor, the mu-opioid receptor, which controls the effects of pleasure, pain relief and need.Now scientists are trying to create opioid painkillers that give relief from pain without triggering the euphoria, dependence and life-threatening respiratory suppression that causes deadly overdoses.That wasn't thought possible until 2000, when a scientist named Laura Bohn found out something about a protein called beta-arrestin, which sticks to the opioid receptor when something like morphine activates it. When sheScientists Engineer An Opioid That May Reduce Pain With Less Riskhttp://kuow.org/post/scientists-engineer-opioid-may-reduce-pain-less-risk
86425 as http://kuow.orgWed, 17 Aug 2016 21:20:00 +0000Scientists Engineer An Opioid That May Reduce Pain With Less RiskRuby de LunaThe state hospital association has teamed up with a toxicology company to address one gateway to opioid addiction. People prescribed pain medication sometimes don’t use all of it. And those drugs can get into the wrong hands. Washington residents may have another way of getting rid of their unused prescription drugs. New drug take-back program launched in Washington to tackle opioid addictionhttp://kuow.org/post/new-drug-take-back-program-launched-washington-tackle-opioid-addiction
86225 as http://kuow.orgMon, 15 Aug 2016 16:58:13 +0000New drug take-back program launched in Washington to tackle opioid addictionAt the summer Olympics, 19-year-old American swimmer Lilly King is making headlines – and not just for winning gold. After beating Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova, King openly condemned the Russian swim team for doping. Advice from an Olympic legend: Speak out against cheatershttp://kuow.org/post/advice-olympic-legend-speak-out-against-cheaters
85923 as http://kuow.orgWed, 10 Aug 2016 21:52:48 +0000Advice from an Olympic legend: Speak out against cheatersEmily Fox talks with Molly Carney, executive director of Evergreen Treatment Services, about a new opioid treatment clinic opening this week in Renton. As heroin addiction rises, Renton gets new treatment clinichttp://kuow.org/post/heroin-addiction-rises-renton-gets-new-treatment-clinic
85234 as http://kuow.orgTue, 02 Aug 2016 20:21:05 +0000As heroin addiction rises, Renton gets new treatment clinicKaren ShakerdgeIn a big hotel conference room near New York's Times Square, six doctors huddle around a greasy piece of raw pork. They watch as addiction medicine specialist Michael Frost delicately marks the meat, incises it and implants four match-sized rods."If you can do it well on the pork, you can easily do it on the person," Frost tells his audience.Frost consults for Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, the company behind the newly FDA-approved treatment Probuphine, and is teaching doctors how to use it. They are learning to implant it in pork so they can later implant it in patients' arms.Although addiction specialists welcome Probuphine, which delivers a constant dose of the drug buprenorphine over six months, at this early stage it's complicated for physicians to add it to their repertoire. Because physicians who treat addiction don't necessarily have experience with surgery or access to sterile spaces, some are having to learn a new skill and develop new systems.Probuphine is unlike any otherDoctors Need A New Skill Set For This Opioid Abuse Treatment http://kuow.org/post/doctors-need-new-skill-set-opioid-abuse-treatment
84910 as http://kuow.orgThu, 28 Jul 2016 16:58:00 +0000Doctors Need A New Skill Set For This Opioid Abuse Treatment Bill ChappellMore than 60 track and field athletes from Russia have had their bid for an appeal rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, dealing another blow to their hopes of participating in the Summer Olympics in Rio next month.The CAS decision comes weeks after the International Olympic Committee backed a ban on Russia's track and field athletes who were seeking the right to compete in Rio as neutral athletes, after their country's sporting federation for track was suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations.In other recent developments in this complicated case:On Monday, the World Anti-Doping Agency said all Russian athletes and government officials should be barred from this summer's Olympics and accused Russian sports officials of running a state-sponsored doping program.On Tuesday, the IOC held an emergency meeting but put off a final decision on whether to ban all Russian athletes from the Summer Games.The IOC has previously left open the possibility thatRussian Track Athletes' Appeal Is Denied By Court Of Arbitration For Sporthttp://kuow.org/post/russian-track-athletes-appeal-denied-court-arbitration-sport
84286 as http://kuow.orgThu, 21 Jul 2016 11:18:00 +0000Russian Track Athletes' Appeal Is Denied By Court Of Arbitration For SportKim Malcolm talks with University of Washington professor Caleb Banta-Green about a report on 2015 drug trends in King County. It finds heroin overdoses have declined from 2014. Banta-Green is a senior research scientist at the UW's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute. As heroin deaths decline in King County, addiction still on the risehttp://kuow.org/post/heroin-deaths-decline-king-county-addiction-still-rise
84166 as http://kuow.orgWed, 20 Jul 2016 18:43:40 +0000As heroin deaths decline in King County, addiction still on the rise